Sarah Mills: I don't want to live in a world where people are shot for their opinions
Sarah Mills says she was no follower of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, but the idea that people are being killed ov...
ST. JOHN’S — An accountant who quit a panel overseeing energy negotiations between the electric utilities of Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec says the public should be able to read his full resignation letter.
Mike Wilson said Wednesday he is unable to share the letter himself because he signed a non-disclosure agreement. However, he called on the panel’s chair to encourage the Newfoundland and Labrador government to release the unredacted text of his resignation letter, which he submitted May 12.
The former EY executive has previously said he resigned because the panel was not serving the public as intended.
“Releasing my letter would demonstrate transparency and enable the public to make an informed decision,” Wilson said in a statement to reporters on Wednesday. “I stand by my assertion that the independence of the panel became impaired.”
Hydro-Québec and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro are negotiating final agreements of a draft energy deal unveiled in December. The Liberals established the panel in January, as a condition for the NDP and Independent members of the legislature to accept the memorandum of understanding, or MOU, and proceed with talks toward final agreements.
The Opposition Progressive Conservatives have criticized the panel, saying its chair, Dennis Browne, is a longtime Liberal supporter. Leader Tony Wakeham has promised to have an independent third party review the draft energy agreement if the Tories win the provincial election expected next month.
Wakeham published a note to Premier John Hogan on Thursday, demanding the Liberal leader release Wilson’s resignation letter. “With a deal that is crucially important to the future of our province, it is on you as premier to be transparent with the people,” Wakeham wrote.
The tentative agreement would see Hydro-Québec pay a forecasted $33.8 billion for power over the next 50 years from the Churchill Falls plant in Labrador and lead new projects along the Churchill River.
Wilson said earlier this month he believes Newfoundland and Labrador could get a better deal. In a note shared with media, he questioned the panel’s independence and said its quarterly reports would not meet the public’s expectations. He also listed a host of questions and concerns about the memorandum of understanding.
On Wednesday, Wilson said neither he nor Browne, who is also the province’s consumer advocate, could release his resignation letter because of a non-disclosure agreement. “However, if it is truly (Browne’s) opinion there was no impairment of the independence of the panel, he could encourage the government to release my letter to the public,” Wilson said.
He said neither Browne nor the provincial government have asked him why he began questioning the panel’s independence.
When asked for comment, Browne pointed to a previous statement, which said the panel’s public reports do not disclose its recommendations and findings “due to the commercial confidentiality of ongoing negotiations.”
Wilson said he was not aware of any commercially sensitive information in his resignation letter.
Asked if the government would release Wilson’s resignation letter, a spokesperson pointed to access to information laws protecting the “disclosure of information harmful to intergovernmental relations or negotiations, and financial or economic interests of the province.”
David Vardy, a former chair of the province’s Public Utilities Board, would also like to see Wilson’s resignation letter made public. In an interview last week, Vardy said Wilson coming forward was a “bombshell.”
“He’s saying that transparency, when it comes to the public interest, has to trump commercial sensitivity,” Vardy said.
Vardy said he doesn’t believe the panel was established to provide transparency.
“The terms of reference really exclude them from digging into the real issues, into the MOU,” he said. “They’re essentially policemen to make sure the definitive agreements are in alignment with the MOU. So it’s a phoney thing. The public were misled.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2025.
Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press
